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Jihadist Leader Envisions an Islamic State in Syria

BEIRUT, Lebanon — In his first television interview, the leader of the Nusra Front, one of the most powerful jihadist groups in the Syrian insurgency, told Al Jazeera that he believed victory was near; that his battle was a fight to defend Sunni Muslims from a global plan to keep them weak; and that his organization sought to establish, but not rule, an Islamic state.

The leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said he viewed the peace talks set to begin in Switzerland next month as a plan to resuscitate the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and vowed that the Nusra Front would fight to prevent the negotiations.

The Nusra Front has emerged over the past 18 months as one of the most powerful and best-armed opposition forces in Syria’s civil war, eclipsing the loose-knit, relatively moderate Free Syrian Army, which has struggled to obtain arms and support. The ascendance of groups like the Nusra Front has deepened concerns in the West that Syria could end up an extremist-led or failed state — to the extent that United States officials are no longer calling for Mr. Assad’s immediate ouster. Critics of America’s Syria policy say the failure to significantly arm the Free Syrian Army is what has brought extremists to prominence in the insurgency.

But in recent months Nusra has been eclipsed in many areas of the country by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, another group dominated by foreign jihadists that has clashed with rival rebel groups and tried to impose religious rule on civilians.

The Nusra Front is seen as having more Syrian fighters than the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and many Syrians who support the uprising see it as less extreme than the other group.

Yet Mr. Jolani, laying out his philosophy in his first interview with a major news organization, made it clear that he saw the uprising against Mr. Assad, which began as a popular movement for political rights, not as an end, but as a means to establishing an Islamic state.

Mr. Jolani, who is believed to have fought American troops in Iraq with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, said the group’s leaders had always viewed Mr. Assad as an obstacle to their vision of Islamic rule, and that when the Syrian uprising began, they saw an opportunity.

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Little is known about the background or identity of Mr. Jolani, who kept his face covered during the interview. He described the Nusra Front as an outgrowth of “a long history of jihad,” from the early years of Islam through the American occupation of Iraq.

He said the Nusra Front had a plan to consult Muslim scholars to establish the rule of Islamic law, and that Syria had experienced “a new birth” that awakened people to aspire to Islamic rule.

“We are not seeking to rule the country,” he said. “We want the Islamic Shariah to prevail.”

He also said the Syrian government had devolved into a collection of militias and that the battle for the country was “almost 70 percent” won. “We will achieve victory soon,” he said.

Mr. Jolani framed the war in sectarian terms, especially in light of the tentative rapprochement between the United States and Iran, which he said threatened Sunni-led states.

The Syrian insurgency has been driven largely by Sunni Muslims and Mr. Jolani charged that global powers were siding with Iran and its ally Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia, against them.

He added that Hezbollah, by intervening on the side of the Syrian government, had given the Nusra Front a way to “enter Lebanon” and establish itself there.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on December 20, 2013, on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Jihadist Leader Envisions An Islamic State in Syria. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe